Aliens have landed

Cirsium scariosum var. coloradense , August 15, 2025

Common & scientific name

Elk thistle, Cirsium scariosum var. coloradense

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Ruby area, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This wonderfully-whacky thistle is uncommon on the Pass, but is always a treat to find. This flower is always stemless, whether the plant stands several feet tall or just 6” off the ground. Its leaves are light green. When it is in the form shown here, a flat, stemless rosette with whitish-purple flowers clustered in the center, it looks like a giant sunflower. Beautiful, no?

Light lavender

Gentianella amarella, August 7, 2025

Common & scientific name

Autumn dwarf gentian, Gentianella amarella subspecies acuta

Family

Gentian, Gentianaceae

Location

Roadside, 11,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Autumn dwarf gentian’s flowers are a lovely shade of lavender. They grow in small clusters from the tip of the stem and from most of the leaf axils. They have four or five petals, equal in length, that flare widely to reveal a circle of long white hairs. Autumn dwarf gentian can be tall like this plant, or much smaller depending on elevation and conditions. While July 26 hardly counts as “autumn,” it is like all gentians (save green gentian) a sign of the waning summer season.

Deep purple

Gentianopsis thermalis, July 15, 2025

Common & scientific name

Rocky Mountain fringed gentian, Gentianopsis thermalis

Family

Gentian, Gentianaceae

Location

Linkins Lake, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This delightful, widespread gentian (think roadside ditches, among other wet places) has four spiraling, delicately-fringed, deep-blue or deep-purple petals (compare the photos at left). “Thermalis” refers to the thermal pools of Yellowstone, where this gentian is particularly abundant and has been designated the park’s official flower.